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Coldplay To Stevens And Satriani: We Didn't Copy You!

Coldplay has said enough is enough with all the copy-catting banter that has been circulating around their song "Viva La Vida". As we previously reported, both Cat Stevens and Joe Satriani have accused the pop-rock musicians of ripping off their music. The band has adamantly denied the accusations and now Will Champion, the band's drummer, has a message for them both: "there are only eight notes in an octave and no one owns them."

In an interview with Hamptonroads.com, Champion was insistent that Coldplay was innocent, and had no intention of having "Viva La Vida" sound anything like either Satriani or Stevens' songs. He also added that pop song writing is relative, and it is undeniable that some songs are going to use some of the same chord progressions as others. (Thank you Champion for reiterating our point.)

In a statement Champion said: "It's tough when people accuse you of stealing something when you know that you didn't. We accept that it's part of the territory and know it is only for some reason the successful songs that seem to be the ones that are accused of being stolen. So you go figure it out. There are elements of our music that I've heard in other people's music, but a very difficult thing to define. There are only eight notes in an octave and no-one owns them. There are probably about 12,000 songs that feature the exact same chord progression. I think it [plagiarism] lies on an intent to steal, which we certainly have never done and never would. It's unfortunate but it's the way people are. That's that. We're confident we haven't done anything wrong."